Services set Saturday for Richard Sherwin ‘Gus’ Trueblood

Graveside services are scheduled Saturday for Richard Sherwin “Gus” Trueblood, a member of the Trueblood family who moved to the Santa Clarita Valley in 1938 and long owned The Signal.

Born in Marion, Indiana, on Oct. 5, 1927, “Gus” Trueblood was a scant decade old when his father, Fred Trueblood Senior, bought The Newhall Signal and Saugus Enterprise from its founder, Edward H. Brown.

The family promptly moved to Newhall, living in a home that was part of William S. Hart’s ranch for a time. “Gus” Trueblood went to Newhall Elementary School and later San Fernando High School, from which he graduated in 1945.

Before embarking on a military career, Trueblood worked at The Signal and attended the Frank Wiggins Trade School to learn to operate both Linotype and Intertype machines, used in their day to set hot-lead type for newspapers. One of the big “linecasting” machines can be seen in the lobby of The Signal today.

Trueblood twice achieved newspaper fame for photography. In the first case, the Los Angeles Times published a photo of “Gus” Trueblood dancing on the steps of Newhall Elementary School after it burned down in 1939. That shot got him a “good thrashing from his father,” family members reported.

In his second brush with fame, Trueblood’s photo of Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch burning down was picked up and transmitted nationally by The Associated Press.

Trueblood joined the Air Force and served during the Korean War, eventually rising to the rank of staff sergeant. He also spent time in Europe in the Merchant Marine.

In 1966 he returned to the family home on Newhall Avenue to care for his mother, Anne Trueblood, who lived to be 99 years old. He remained there until his death on Dec. 18.

Richard Sherwin Trueblood is survived by his sister, Rosemary, and her husband, Tom Shields, of Lancaster; nephews Fred Trueblood III of Camarillo, John Trueblood of Santa Rosa and Mike Trueblood of Saugus; and niece Kyltie Diggins of Morro Bay.